October 2018 ~ The Vinsomniac - Stuart Robinson

An Australian Wine Blog

Tuesday, 9 October 2018

Terre a Terre Summertown Reserve 2017

16:30 Stu.

2017 was a warm, yet late, vintage and the finicky Pinot Noir required extra management to see it through a growing season. The extra care didn't stop in the vintage, with additional work from the winemakers hand. Soft and succulent, red berry fruit awash across the...

2017 / Adelaide Hills / pinot noir

Cook's Lot Riesling 2018

08:30 Stu.

Fresh and fragrant, it's all at you with its tropical ways. Think guava-esque notes and a dribble of lime, squeezed for added freshness. Minerally with a tang across the bow, it's long on flavour too. An initial intensity delivers a sensory assault, a burst and pop of...

2018 / Orange / riesling

Monday, 8 October 2018

Daosa Natural Reserve NV

16:30 Stu.

Badged as an NV wine, yet with 85% base wine from 2016 it could equally be declared as a vintage. It's also 85% Pinot Noir, the balance being Chardonnay. The Natural part refers - I think - to the addition of zero sulphur. Delicate: quince, stonefruit,...

2016 / Adelaide Hills / Chardonnay / NV / pinot noir / Sparkling

Out of Step Wine Co. Margin Walker Sauvignon Blanc 2016

08:30 Stu.

The 2016 guise of the Margin Walker comes from the Willowlake Vineyard (the 2015 being off of Lusatia Park, a fruit source prior to its acquisition by De Bortoli). Made primarily from a single bin of fruit. It was sent to two one year old barriques to ferment naturally,...

2016 / Sauvignon Blanc / Single Vineyard / Yarra Valley

Sunday, 7 October 2018

Margan White Label Semillon 2017

16:30 Stu.

Lime and lemon butter, hints of lemon grass. Initially some menthol - but that had dissipated with some time. Soft and rounded, initially the acid quite flacid, again with time the energy gains. Soft and fleshy, has texture and width - enough meat about the bones,...

#HunterWine / 2017 / Hunter Valley / Semillon / Single Vineyard

Bremerton Racy Rosé 2018

10:30 Stu.

Not too much to write about here. Safe Rosé by the numbers. Sweeter Berry aromatics, toffee-apple, cranberry and a little rose. Needs a chill, there's sweetness and softness - a balancing phenolic edge, a welcome counterpoint. Length, OK. 89 Tasted on: Saturday...

2018 / Cabernet Sauvignon / Langhorne Creek / Rosé / Shiraz

Saturday, 6 October 2018

Out of Step Wine Co Summerhill Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2017

18:30 Stu.

The OoS team are not only raising the bar for Sauvignon Blanc production in Australia, I'd actually hazard they're redefining the rules. Opening with a honeysuckle and citrus imbued aroma, with a suggestion of tropical fruit flowing underneath. There's the...

2017 / Sauvignon Blanc / Single Vineyard / Yarra Valley

Cook's Lot Sauvignon Blanc 2018

14:30 Stu.

Woooh, we've a live one here. This is all Gooseberry, Passionfruit with some lychee puree thrown in. Ultra-fresh. Has a fair bit of zest and mineral about it, rippling through the palate, dancing it's merry tinge across the tongue. The fruit makes itself...

2018 / Orange / Sauvignon Blanc

Bremerton Betty & Lu Sauvignon Blanc 2018

08:30 Stu.

Comes across fresh and vibrant, a veritable fruit salad of aromas (and indeed smells a little like chewy lollies of the same name I was rather fond of as a wee lad). Clean and crisp, has hints of melon, Gooseberry and fresh herb. Zesty and lively across the finish....

2018 / Langhorne Creek / Sauvignon Blanc

Friday, 5 October 2018

Ferngrove King Malbec 2016

19:26 Stu.

I was all too ready to dismiss this, it seemingly offering a reductive, sulphurous pong on first opening. It was meaty, gamey - smelling more like a Pinotage. This was just in need of some air. From the reductive to the sublime, now more like an old school Grenache,...

2016 / Frankland River / Great Southern / Malbec

Cook's Lot Shiraz 2017

08:30 Stu.

Smelling more like a Pinot on steroids - no bad thing - with a strong game of macerated strawberry and raspberry here. It comes across well. Soft, sensuous, vibrant and juicy - a light rub of tannin initially, firming up as it moves across the palate. From that...

2017 / Orange / Shiraz

Thursday, 4 October 2018

Rymill The Yearling Rosé 2018

16:30 Stu.

Berry, raspberry and cranberry in the main. There's a sweeter edge, perhaps like a little caramelisation. Red fruit sweetness without being over-wrought. Powdery edge, as though brushed with talcum, provides a welcome aspect. Rather well, if perhaps simply,...

2018 / Coonawarra

Heartland Shiraz 2015

08:30 Stu.

A crowd-pleaser for sure, with Ben Glaetzer's moniker writ large across it. It's a dark and rich mix of fruit, toasty oak remnants and a mix of spice that runs from pepper through sweeter accents like cinnamon. Dark chocolate, mocha notes dominate the...

2015 / Limestone Coast / Shiraz

Wednesday, 3 October 2018

Rymill The Yearling Sauvignon Blanc 2018

16:30 Stu.

Zing combined with a little tropical shrill. Back palate loses a bit of shape before spreading on what can only be regarded as reasonable length. Up front it's a tropical riot over a herbal inflection: fennel tops, dill, perhaps a little creamy sage. It offers...

2018 / Coonawarra / Sauvignon Blanc

Peter Lehmann The Barossan Shiraz 2016

08:30 Stu.

With its faux leatherette label, along with carrying both the name of quite possibly the Barossa Valley's most famous winemaker AND perhaps claiming itself as a regional standard bearer through use of the definite article, the Barossan sure has much to live up to. Fortunately...

2016 / Barossa Valley / Shiraz

Tuesday, 2 October 2018

Higher Plane Fume Blanc 2017

16:30 Stu.

It would appear that the winery has moved onto the 2018 vintage now. Unsure if any stocks remain of this, a fine wine. Smokey edge of complexity derived from the barrel fermentation. Lends a flinty, nutty edge to it. The palate, a contrast - creamy, vanilla aspect....

2017 / Margaret River / Sauvignon Blanc

Yaldara Reserve Chardonnay 2016

08:30 Stu.

Selected from a single site vineyard of Bernard 94 clone (Chablis) of Chardonnay situated near Charleston in the Adelaide Hills. The fruit was hand harvester, with a portion of the juice (the unclarified part) sent to ferment in French oak (of which...

2016 / Adelaide Hills / Chardonnay

Monday, 1 October 2018

d'Arenberg The Money Spider Roussanne 2017

19:00 Stu.

Opens with an edge like kumquat marmalade, with apricot nectar and sweeter nuances of honey. Lime acidity, semblance of body and texture. There's aspect of honey and a savoury and spiced line on the finish. Good value Roussanne. 89 Tasted on: Saturday...

2017 / McLaren Vale / Roussanne

Higher Plane Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2017

16:44 Stu.

The Sauvignon leads here, a Gooseberry core fleshed out and supplemented with blackberry and grassy citrus from the Semillon. Fresh and herbal at its very heart. Grassiness flows onto the palate, adding further freshness and giving the wine the line and urgency...

2017 / Margaret River / Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon

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